The Ouija Controversy – Part 2: My Introduction

As with all things paranormal, there’s a seemingly endless discourse around the humble and legendary Ouija. Everyone has an opinion… a personal experience… a friend-of-a-friend anecdote… and, sometimes, a dire warning. But is all of this debate actually warranted?

As discussed in in my last blog entry (please see Part 1 at http://www.maineghosthunters.org/blogs/2012/08/21/the-ouija-controversy/), I’m not big into dire warnings and not one to accept without question the existence of demons, angels, or even ghosts. As an empiricist who needs to see it for myself, I also tend to buck up against being told what to believe.

At the same time, I’m not in the least averse to admitting I’m wrong, should my skepticism prove inaccurate. In fact, as a ghost enthusiast and occasional investigator, that’s what I’m banking on. Just call me Fox Mulder: “I want to believe.” I’m just not going to jump on every paranormal bandwagon without serious consideration and analytical examination.

But back to the controversial board.

Unlike many folks, my first real foray into the world of Ouija wasn’t as a dabbling, dewy-eyed kid at a sleepover. In fact, it wasn’t with Ouija – or an actual board – at all. Instead, I was just out of high school and visiting a friend who, in lieu of a board, utilized Scrabble letters, arranged in a circle, and an inverted juice glass to contact (so he claimed) his spirit guide, Roger. The entire broad-daylight, matter-of-fact approach seemed utterly incongruous with all the hype I’d heard about Ouija.

To say the least, a close relative (who had been with me) and I were intrigued by the experience. Nothing sinister had been implied or achieved. At best, it seemed as if our friend and his spirit guide had a relationship akin to a life coach or counselor and client. So, predictably, we tried it ourselves shortly thereafter.

At first, we stuck with the Scrabble letter method at the kitchen table, but eventually we decided that a more personal touch would be achieved if we were to create our own handwritten letters, assembled in a circle. For quite some time, this is what we exclusively used, along with a small, green juice glass.

Initially, we modeled our sessions after our friend’s approach and soon discovered something interesting, if not frustrating on my part, that would prove true for all of my future talking board experiences: My touch renders any pointer (glass, plastic, or wood) dead. In other words, I cannot be in contact with the planchette, or else it will not work.

I have no idea why this might be. Do you?

Luckily, in addition to being an open-minded skeptic, I’m a writer at heart anyway, so from here on out, my participation in all things Ouija was as questioner and scribe. I hope you’ll join me in my next blog to find out how that has played out so far.